BRIDGEWATER – Sue Altman really wasn’t acting like a candidate – and that’s a compliment, not an insult.

She arrived at her Election Night party at a local catering hall and immediately greeted reporters and everyone else who was in the room.

You got the feeling that she was having a good time no matter the outcome.

As everyone found out, the outcome was not good for her.

Incumbent Tom Kean Jr. survived, winning by about 27,000 votes.

Kean was supposed to win, given the makeup of the district.

A quick look at the numbers shows the problem Altman could not overcome.

Kean got about 60 percent of the vote in Warren and Sussex counties, meaning Altman, her robust campaign notwithstanding, made no inroads there. And she did not win Union County, the only real Democratic town in the district by the margin she needed.

No matter.

As we suggested, Altman was enjoying herself at her party.

She talked about giving the campaign all she had. Others came to the podium to extol her attributes, almost as if this were a campaign rally and not an election night gathering.

Who knows if she will give it another go in 2026.

One thing seems certain.

Tom Kean won his race – propelled obviously by favorable registration and a famous political name – but he can learn something from Altman. Really.

That would be the basic traits a political leader is supposed to have. Things like talking to reporters, publicizing your schedule and engaging with the public.

Kean does none of those things.

One interesting tidbit of the campaign is that Altman had seven town halls. That normally is what a congressman does, not the challenger.

Kean, most infamously, has no public engagements.

Kean’s political advantages in CD-7 will always make him a good candidate.

But it takes more than that to be a good public official.